It’s a pleasure to work with dedicated people. It’s also a pleasure to work with smart people. But often, smarts and dedication are not enough. No matter what our goal, a sense of purpose is necessary. It’s not our love for the game that makes us win, it’s our desire to win. Winning is the defining moment.
In product development, winning is hard to define. We have a desire to sell products, so in a sense outselling your competitors could be the defining moment. Or exceeding our sales expectations. Maybe being profitable is your goal. Great. Goals are not always financial. I’ve helped friends get into the game, develop and launch their own products, and for them that was enough.
Products should be used to reinforce, not define who a company is.
I have Simon Sinek to thank for that. Simon writes for AskMen.com and keeps a company blog about inspired action here. I first heard about him when Aaron Fulkerson asked me to watch his TedX video where he presents the central tenet of his book, Start With The Why.
Of course, it’s become cliché to cite Apple as an example of greatness in business, which he does in this video. But if we’re going to take his message to heart, we have to get past the clichés and understand the true meaning of Product Reinforcement. It had never occurred to me to ask clients “why” before. On the surface, I have always asked “why” but only to understand the why they reasoned the way that they do. In other words, to help me understand their rational for developing a product the way they do, but not to understand “why” they exist in the first place.
If you ask why, the fundamental why, then you start to understand more clearly what the goals are. The answer becomes your defining moment. The bigger, the hairier and the more audacious your “Why,” the harder to define. But you’ll know it when you see it.
Have a look a the video. Buy the book. And someday, we’ll have a talk about our Why’s.
Aaron's Leg - A Tattoo of His Company's Logo with Pirate Theme
Simon's Book - Start With Why